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Charges filed against a man for allegedly burglarizing a Mesepa home and sexually assaulting homeowner

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 23-year-old man accused of entering a home and attempting to sexually assault a woman after he allegedly broke in to the woman’s home thrice was arrested last week following a traffic stop in the Iliili area.

Asuni Okesene is charged with first degree burglary, false imprisonment, trespass, third degree assault, and private peace disturbance. He made his initial appearance in District Court earlier this month, where bail was set at $15,000.

Preliminary hearing (PX) is Friday, Oct. 25th

THE ALLEGATION

On the morning of Oct. 3rd, several cops responded to a call about a possible sexual abuse and burglary case in Mesepa.

The victim told police that she was in bed, asleep, when she awoke suddenly at 3a.m to find Okesene standing over her. The woman said she recognized Okesene, because he lives nearby, and he allegedly broke into her home two times prior. The first incident was two months ago. The victim said she was sleeping in the living room and awoke to Okesene standing there in his boxers.

The victim told police that she told Okesene to get out but he asked her for money. She said she told him that she didn’t have any money on her, and if he didn’t leave, she was going to call the police. That’s when Okesene ran off, according to the victim. The second incident allegedly took place late last month.

According to the victim, she left all her shopping on the shelf when she got home, and went straight to bed, at around 8p.m. While she was sleeping, she heard someone trying to break the back door of her home. She said she didn’t want to get up because she was exhausted but the noise grew louder, and she eventually made her way to the back porch to see what was going on.

She alleges she saw Okesene standing outside with a metal pipe, trying to open the door. She said Okesene left after she chased him away.

The following morning, the victim said she was shocked to find that her back door was damaged and open, and all of her shopping had disappeared. The victim said she did not see Okesene taking stuff, but she believes he was the one who broke in and stole from her.

The victim said that two days later, she spoke to Okesene’s mother, who immediately apologized for what happened, saying she would pay back the victim’s money spent on shopping, which was $215.43

The victim said she didn’t report the first two incidents to police because she and Okesene’s family live in close proximity to each other and she didn’t want any bad blood between them.

She said that during the most recent incident, Okesene stood over her and put his hand over hear mouth to stop her from yelling, and he held her down. She claims that Okesene tried to touch her in a sexual manner, but she was quick to push him away.

She said she was able to get away and grab her cell phone, after which she ran out of the house and called out to a neighbors — an elderly couple — for help. The neighbors let the victim in and that’s when police were contacted.

Two weeks ago, police pulled over a black truck for speeding. The driver was later identified as Okesene, who was immediately arrested, for an outstanding warrant. When questioned about the burglaries, Okesene allegedly admitted that he broke into the victim’s home twice — two months ago — and again two weeks ago. He also admitted to stealing the victim’s shopping.